Review: The Witcher III: Blood and Wine

Going back to the world of The Witcher III is always a pleasure. Going back to complete side quests or to watch Geralt’s beard grow, are great ways to remind yourself exactly why The Witcher III: Wild Hunt was Game of the Year. The newest expansion, Blood and Wine is another reminder of how great the game is as a whole, while it also raising the bar for DLC content in general.

Blood and Wine takes place in an entirely new region called Toussaint. The landscapes are more of the same jaw dropping beauty that we have seen in the rest of the game, with the added bonus of giving us a large new territory to explore.

The residents of Toussaint are having issues with a monster who is targeting Knights in the area. Que Geralt and his particular set of skills to hunt down the beast and figure out exactly what is killing the knights and get to the bottom of the motives behind the murders. Like most things we have become accustomed to in this world, things are not quite what they seem and are of an insidious nature. There are tons of twists and turns in Blood and Wine and since they are pretty amazing, I’ll leave this bit spoiler free.

I had almost forgot how much fun boss battles are in The Witcher. Again, CD Projekt Red outdoes themselves by giving Witcher fans boss battles that exceed expectation and are a flat out blast to encounter. There is plenty to do in Blood and Wine too. You will find side-quests throughout Toussaint. None of these side-quests feel like developers were going through the motions in order to put out content drivel. These are a varied bunch of quests that give you both dark quests as well as a couple of hilarious ones. If you are a fan of Geralt’s sighs and frustrated grunts, you are going to love one quest in particular that pits Geralt against… well, paperwork.

Just when you think The Witcher couldn’t get any better, they introduce a nifty new mutation upgrade system that allows for new abilities. These really come in handy during some of the later boss battles and are a breath of fresh air when it comes to the combat that we have become accustomed to using. Use these mutations in combination with oils to make burger out of bosses.

Blood and Wine sums The Witcher up nicely with a farewell bow. As with most things in the world of The Witcher choices that you make inevitably change the world around you and decide character’s fates. Nothing feels like it was formulated in order to meet a quota, the same awesomeness that we loved about The Witcher III: Wild Hunt is concentrated into a strong cocktail that creates a white knuckle gaming experience that does not disappoint. It wouldn’t surprise me if Blood and Wine ends up getting our expansion of the year over at iHorror. There is literally nothing to not love about this content. Do not miss it, Witcher fans.

Trey grew up wedged in-between the aisles of a video store. After a Cronenbergian inspired sequence, He has officially become fused with both film and video games. He writes all things pop culture, and has accidentally kicked two sharks and lived. Give him a follow and Tweet him something not too judgy @TreyHilburn.